Economist, Aug. 23

(posted Saturday, Aug. 23)

The cover editorial blames the world's economic problems on economists. They waste too much time on minutiae and too many of them have abandoned grand free-market principles for statism. An article notes a promising new medical procedure: "downsizing" failing hearts and lungs by trimming tissue. The smaller organs work better. Also, the magazine says graphite rackets (power over technique) and charmless players are ruining tennis.

New Republic, Sept. 8 & 15

(posted Friday, Aug. 22)

The New Republic to end all New Republics. The 25-page cover package celebrates "Zionism at 100." An immense essay by Editor in Chief Martin Peretz traces Zionism's triumphant history, beginning with the 1897 Basel conference. Among his several conclusions: Zionism succeeded because it favored pragmatism and modernity over ideology and nostalgia. Seventeen other writers contribute short essays. The main themes: 1) Israel is a model democracy; 2) Israeli treatment of Arabs is incomparably better than Arab treatment of Israelis or Arab treatment of Arabs; 3) Zionism signifies "the Jewish preference for power over self-pity." (Ludicrous note: a back-page vodka promotion, one of many Zionist-themed ads, proclaiming "Absolut L'Chaim.")

New York Times Magazine, Aug. 24

(posted Thursday, Aug. 21)

The cover story tracks the promising early performance of Wisconsin's welfare reforms. The state's new mandatory work policies, while more expensive than welfare checks, have pushed more people into the job market and fewer into poverty than had been expected. Critics doubt that the new workers will keep their jobs in a recession. An article profiles best-selling guru Dr. Andrew Weil, who's trying to persuade the mainstream medical establishment to accept alternative health care. Doctors are dubious. An article notes the resurgence in the Western Hemisphere of disease-bearing mosquitoes. Their near-disappearance in the '60s reduced disease immunity, and entomologists now warn that new epidemics of malaria, dengue fever, and encephalitis are likely. Alarming statistic: "Mosquitoes will kill, by W.H.O. tally, roughly 1 in every 17 people currently alive on this planet."

Harper's, September 1997